Truman State men fall to Ft. Hays State

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman men took the court against the Fort Hays State Tigers just one day removed from knocking off Nebraska-Kearney on a last second three-pointer by Tom Norton. TSU was unable to carry over the momentum from Norton’s big shot as they lost to FHSU 74-68.

The Bulldogs trailed most of the first half by about four points, as they went into half down 30-25, however with just over 10 minutes left in the game the Tigers opened up a double-digit lead for the first time. Truman was never able to dig out of that hole, as they were unable to ever to get closer than four points for the rest of the game.

“We gave it a run, but we didn’t take care of the ball and we have some tired guys right now,” said Truman head coach Matt Woodley.

The Bulldogs got within four in the last minute as FHSU struggled to put the game away, missing free throws, committing, turnovers, and committing fouls on Truman.

Ft. Hays led by as many as 12 with only three minutes to play and then TSU went on a 10-2 run to cut it to four with 30 seconds to go.

Norton hit a three with 17 seconds to play to cut the Tigers lead back down to four but FHSU closed it out by making free throws and not allowing Truman to get a clean look from deep.

“We played really hard, but I don’t think we played very smart. We are running on empty right now. They had a lot to do with it because they are a good quality basketball team. We matched their effort but not their execution,” said Woodley.

Truman is the only team in the MIAA to play two games a week since conference play opened.

“We have some tired guys right now and we really need this week off. We are right in the middle of the season and I told the guys we still have a chance to get where we want to go. We just need to get some rest because they are really banged up right now,” said Woodley.

TSU will have a full week off as they don’t play again until Saturday at Southwest Baptist.

Mike Carlson led the Truman attack against the Tigers, as he finished with 18 points and also added seven boards.

Norton had 15, again all from behind the arc and Seth Jackson rounded out the Bulldogs in double-figures as he added 10.

Truman fell to 7-11 overall and 4-6 in the MIAA. TSU is tied for 12th in the MIAA but is only two games behind third place Northwest Missouri, and only three games behind Northeastern State, a team Truman lost to at the buzzer earlier this season, in second.